Rebecca Campbell, president and general manager of WABC-TV, said the two companies had been in negotiations for over two years, adding: “Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers by losing ABC 7, the most popular station in the tri-state area.”

For their part, Cablevision stated that the Disney company, which owns ABC, is not above holding ABC viewers “hostage” in order to receive an extra $40 million from Cablevision.

“First it was Food Network and HGTV, and that was bad enough. I should have canceled it then,” said Long Island resident Mark Keller. “I mean. This is the gay superbowl.”